Osprey Energy, headquartered in Bridgewater, NS, has begun an extensive onshore seismic program to locate potential oil and gas deposits north of Truro, NS. Osprey and its joint venture partner will conduct a month-long program over an 80-mile stretch from Debert to Parrsboro, part of the Maritime Basin, with the primary target the 70 kilometers of seismic lines in the Pennsylvanian Parrsboro formation. Early indications are that the region has potential reserves of up to 75 MMbbl and 345 Bcf. The area to be covered includes the Lower Parrsboro formation, which is about 850 meters thick, consisting of sandstone and shale. The Upper Parrsboro is about 1,800 meters thick and is similar to the Lower Parrsboro. The seismic program is gathering 6,000% fold vibroseismic data, which has been contracted to Kinetex Inc. The data will be analysed to create a subsurface geological profile, which will be integrated with surface geological data gathered over several years by the Geological Survey of Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources.

NewPower Holdings Inc., parent of The New Power Co., reported that it has been included in the Russell 2000 Index. The Russell 2000 is comprised of 2,000 companies with a median market cap of $410.3 million. The index is one of 21 that is produced and published by the Frank Russell Co., which provides investment advice, analytical tools and funds to institutional and individual investors in more than 35 countries. The New Power Co. is the first national provider of electricity and natural gas to residential and small commercial customers in the United States.

DPL Inc. announced the completion of a 40-mile, 345,000-volt transmission circuit connecting the Foster Substation, bordering DPL’s service territory north of Cincinnati, to DPL’s Bath Substation located east of Dayton. The Foster-Bath transmission circuit will significantly enhance DPL’s ability to deliver power throughout the Midwest and eastern United States. Over the past three years, DPL has implemented an aggressive merchant generation expansion program, adding 1,167 MW of natural gas-fired generating capacity to its total generating capacity of 4,039 MW. To date this program has increased DPL’s capacity by 30%, with much of that capacity sold forward into the wholesale energy market.

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